The Use of Blogs Among Students: Shifts in Utilization, Pragmatism, and Critical Literacy

Sugihartati, Rahma; Wardhana, Arya Wijaya Pramodha; Egalita, Nadia

doi:10.22034/ijism.2024.2012855.1267

The Use of Blogs Among Students: Shifts in Utilization, Pragmatism, and Critical Literacy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Rahma Sugihartati ¹

Arya Wijaya Pramodha Wardhana ²

Nadia Egalita ³

¹ Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia

² Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

³ Department of Media and communications, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

https://doi.org/10.22034/ijism.2024.2012855.1267

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a study on access to and utilization of information in blogs among university students, as well as how students can cultivate critical literacy towards content and information in blogs. Through interviews with 203 students in the cities of Surabaya and Malang, this study reveals that students' frequency of accessing blogs is consistently increasing, and there is a growing pragmatism that could potentially compromise scholarly integrity within the higher education domain. For students with digital literacy and a pragmatic approach, blogs are often perceived as highly beneficial, particularly when facing tight assignment deadlines. Accessing a blog and navigating the provided links is a practical and swift method for students to locate the required references. The students know that blogs should not be used as primary references for completing academic tasks at the university. However, with critical literacy skills they possess, many students attempt to use blog information by paraphrasing and editing. Blogs owned by respected intellectuals and blog entries supported by accurate literature are regarded by students as highly valuable and reliable sources for guidance in writing and finalizing academic assignments from their lecturers.

Keywords

Blogs

University Students

Digital Literacy

Critical Literacy

20.1001.1.20088302.2025.23.1.1.5

Subjects

Library and Information Science

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